I heard you like reading, don't ye?
Hang on for the wee summary of myself...
or don't bother and just meet me in person!

A wise man told me once to 'Follow the River'

I am a 23-year-old Freelance Game Artist and illustrator from the Netherlands. Currently setting up my self-employed company as a Video Game Artist and illustrator for young audiences.
Portfolio can be found at www.paulvandermaarel.weebly.com

My travel-alone history is not that big. Right after my highschool exams I flew over to Belfast to have an amazing backpack hitchhiker adventure through Northern-Ireland and Donegal for 3,5 months.
That was such an amazing experience!!

Two years after that I tried doing the rest of Ireland, but this failed miserably due to one car that brought me back to Northern Ireland again (650 km) 😂No bother!

In 2017 I went to Scotland and traveled in a similar way as I would through Ireland. This manner can be seen on my profile picture. 'Somewhere'

My summer of 2018 was spent in Bali. (first time in Asia!!!) This was an absolutely brilliant experience!

What I like to do on my travels is trying to get to know the real culture of a country or area, combined with coming around as cheap and fun as possible. So I sometimes end up in someones backyard with my tent ^-^

People in (Northern) Ireland used to call me Tall Paul as I am a very tall midget of 198 cm (almost 6'6")

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am on Couchsurfing, because I think it's very useful to have people on the internet who want to have a good time sharing experiences, creating memories together, and are by chance willing to lend you a free couch in exchange, (for example) for a lovely dutch dessert, during ones travels.

Interests

I like drawing (*cough* Game Artist *cough*).
I read quite a lot of books.
I like puzzles (jigsaw i.e.)
I like how almost everyone on CS says the magic word 'open-minded'. This is the only time I mention this word on my profile though.

I like telling stories, although I'm not very good at telling them, haha!
I play the piano. I also have a violin, but I haven't managed to play even one tune yet, even though I had violin lessons for half a year. The reason I don't seem to pick it up again is mainly because of the lack of time.

I am a person who wants to do things. Not a person who sleeps 14 hours a day. I want to discover things for myself, even though they have already been discovered. I want to learn things, but only things that I'm interested to learn.
I want to learn cool historical things, want to see them, want to read them. I want to be someone who at first learns from the world and then teaches the world something.
(Yes I am sometimes a bit stubborn :D )

Currently saving up and planning to build my own portable tiny house!

What is there more to say I am thinking...?
O yess! I love my friends and family!

• arts
• culture
• books
• video games
• traveling
• puzzles
• piano
• history
• solo travel
• netherlands

Music, Movies, and Books

My favourite books:
Finished the first two books of 'the Stormlight Archive' by Brandon Sanderson.
Read a bit of the Mistborn trilogy
Just started reading the Wheel of Time.
Just started reading the Outlander books, I thought they are too long-winded.
A series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.

My Favourite films:
I prefer series over films :)
Sometimes popular series, sometimes the occasional animation.

And the best (animated) films every created are the feature films by Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon. They made 'Song of the Sea', 'Secret of Kells', and 'The Breadwinner'.

My Favourite music:
I am not a very big fan of music with lyrics, I like them instrumental.
For example the traditional Irish fiddle music, Skyrim OST, ambient outside sounds, Ludovico Einaudi, Shira Kammen, Wardruna, Approaching Nirvana (the old albums), Fakear, Deadmau5, Christian Löffler, sometimes some random things that show up on my Discover Weekly on Spotify.
All sorts of things really. At long as it pleases my ears 😁

A great piece of thinking material by Brandon Sanderson:
"He believes, long ago, there was only one being which he simply calls One. One knew everything but had experienced nothing. And so One became Many in order to experience all things. As each experience is different, it brings completeness to One. Eventually, all will be gathered back in when the sum of land is attained and they will once again become One. Every person is a different mind of a single being experiencing different lives. As Many, they need ignorance. Each fragment of the One’s mind has its own body with different passions and inclinations. They exist in variety to experience all kinds of thought. That means some people must know and others must not. Just like some people must be rich and others poor. This is why he is interested in collecting other people's experiences."

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

To only mention one thing is a hard thing to decide. Yes, I really liked the parachute jump I made, as well as my time in Bali, but I must really choose my journey through Northern-Ireland as the most amazing thing!

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: To be a very optimistic person!
Learn: The unexplained meaning of life? Any language you might offer me.
Share: My personal knowledge and experiences?

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share my positivity with you! I am overall a very optimistic person who wants to add new ideas to already existing ideas, instead of breaking those ideas.
I am always in for a laugh! Hahahahahaha....
Too much?

Quite often when being hosted, I make an unforgetable dessert called Hemels Modder (or Heavenly Mud).

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, England, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands